Erase & Rewind
by NanouDane76
Summary: When Eileen decides to bring Bombshell to London to give it a run before going to Broadway, Derek is brought face to face with someone from his past.
1. Chapter 1

It was 11PM in London when Kate's mobile phone rang. She was sitting at her desk doing paperwork. The fact that her phone was ringing so late was not a surprise to her, she would occasionally get phone calls even later than that. She grabbed it and seeing her assistant's name on the screen, answered it.

"Yes Abigail"?

Abigail, her assistant was in her mid-twenties and probably the best assistant she could have. She knew that Abigail never disturbed her that late if it wasn't for a good reason.

"Kate, I'm sorry to bother you so late but I have someone who was initially calling to speak to Ian. Can I put her through to you"?

"Sure, can you tell me who it is"?

"Oh, yeah..Sorry, it's a certain Eileen Rand from New York".

If the name didn't ring a bell to Abigail, it more than did to Kate.

"Thanks Abigail. I'll take the call, you can transfer her".

As she waited for the call to transfer, Kate leaned back in her office chair. Kate knew Eileen very well. They had worked together many years ago on some projects and she was someone Kate had a lot of respect for even though she couldn't stand Jerry. Still, Kate was quite intrigued to hear why Eileen was trying to contact Ian.

"Hello. This is Eileen Rand, am I speaking with the person in charge of running the theater"?

"Hello Eileen. It's Kate".

"Kate? Oh my God darling, is that really you"?

"How are you Eileen"?

"I'm OK, a few issues I've had to go through but in general I'm doing great. I'm surprised. I thought I would be in contact with Ian".

Kate swallowed. "Eileen, Ian passed away almost two years ago. I'm sorry I thought you knew".

There was a long silence on the other side of the line as Eileen processed what Kate had told her.

"No. I didn't know. I'm deeply sorry. He was a great and talented man in the business".

"Yes he was and he is greatly missed here. What can I do for you Eileen"?

"Well, I assume you have heard about the latest production we have going on, Bombshell"?

Of course Kate had heard of Bombshell, who hadn't.

"Of course, it got great reviews after your Boston run. Everyone was raving on about it here in London".

She could feel Eileen smiling.

"Good to hear. Here's what I would like to propose. We obviously want to bring Bombshell to Broadway, but I was thinking that it would be nice to have a slight preview of what we could expect at Broadway before we actually get there. You know almost like the run in Boston but in a more Broadway type environment".

Kate smiled. Even if Eileen was beating about the bush and being quite elusive, she had an idea where this was going.

"Eileen, I totally understand and if I get your drift, you would like to give Bombshell a run in London"?

Eileen laughed. "That Kate darling is what I love about you is that you know how to read between the lines and grasp very quickly what it is I'm trying to get at. Do you think it could work and be possible in a quite near future"?

"Work? I have no doubt, as I said the reviews of the Bombshell run in Boston were greatly spoken of in the press here. Possible"? Kate took a pause.

"Eileen, if you were calling Ian, I take it you wanted it to be at the McAllister Theater"?

"Yes, actually I was hoping so. I think it would be perfect for the show. Kate are you the right person to arrange this"?

Kate grabbed one of the agendas and on her desk and opened it. She flicked through the pages and quickly stopped when she reached a section of the agenda.

"Eileen, here is what I suggest, if you can get everything ready to be in London in two weeks, I can assure a 3 week run at the Theater. I could envision 3 performances a week, one Friday night, on Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon. It's the quickest I can do".

"Grand! Kate you are one lifesaver. Now you know me I'm a business woman, what's it going to cost me"?

Kate jotted down some numbers and did quick calculations on a piece of paper.

"OK, for the theater for 3 weeks it will be 11000 USD. I think this is a fair price in the business".

"Yes, quite fair indeed. What about meals and accommodations, what can you propose there, I need to include that in the budget of course".

"Eileen, when Ian died, he left me the manor. It has enough rooms and space to accommodate your entire team and as long as the meals are taken in the theater or the manor, I have no issues in paying for those. Any meals or drinks outside will need to be paid by the actors or the production team. I also have the private jets at my availability so all you need to do is make sure your actors and rest of the team have passports. Once that is agreed and signed on, my jets will be waiting for you at JFK waiting to get on route to Heathrow".

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Kate knew it was a done deal, but she also knew that Eileen was touched by the gesture, but Kate really needed to fill up the theater and she knew this would be a small price to pay to do say. Plus having Bombshell in her theater would bring in a lot of publicity.

"Kate, you never cease to amaze me. You are not only a woman of talent but also a great business woman. Have your team draw up a contract and send to me, I'll have my lawyers review and if everything is as it should be, I'll sign and return to you".

"Eileen, you'll have the contract in your inbox within the hour. The quicker this is agreed upon the quicker we can both start the ball rolling".

"Thanks Kate. I think this is going to be quite an adventure and I'm so glad that you are a part of it. I'll call you tomorrow. Good night".

"I'm looking forward to it Eileen. Speak to you tomorrow. Good afternoon to you".

With that both women hung up. Eileen turned her chair around and looked out the window. She was excited but she knew it was too early to talk to the team about it, at least not until she had signed the contract with Kate.

Kate had barely hung up with Eileen that she was calling Owen, the theater's legal manager asking him to draw up the contract ASAP and provided him all the different agreements that had been made.

By the time Kate went off to bed, it was almost one in the morning. The contract had been sent to Eileen in the promised timeframe and she was started to get excited. Just as she was falling asleep, she imagined opening night, the people, the lights, the Bombshell poster on the huge billboard advertising sign with Eileen's name, Ivy's, Tom's and…

She opened her eyes and sat up straight in her bed. Derek!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eileen walked into her office and sat down at her desk. She was late but she knew it was not a big deal. Across from her in the sofa were seated Tom, Julia and Derek.

Derek sighed. No matter how much he liked and appreciated Eileen, there was nothing he hated most than to be called into a last minute meeting less than hour before rehearsals.

"Right, so we are all here Eileen. Can we get to it? We've got a rehearsal in 30".

She barely looked at him and seemed to be overly excited about something. "This won't take long Derek and I'm actually bringing good news".

"Alright then".

"I have spoken to one of my contacts in London and I have managed to book Bombshell in London for three weeks before we hit Broadway"!

Tom, Julia and Derek looked at each other. Derek then looked at Eileen.

"You're serious"?

"Yes Derek, I'm quite serious. We need to be there in two weeks. You need to make sure that the entire cast has a valid passport and we need to start prepping to have everything from the décor sent out as well. I think it's a good idea to run Bombshell in London before we hit Broadway. It will allow us to see what kind of results we could get from Broadway".

Tom smiled. "This is a great idea Eileen. I don't believe we didn't think about it sooner. I know it's none of my business but can we afford this? I mean can the production take this on budget"?

"Tom, I appreciate you worrying about finances but the offer I got was quite good and they have agreed to take on accommodations, most of the meals and flight costs. So yes, the production can afford this".

She turned to Derek. "And I'm sure you'll be happy to be back in London. You haven't been there in ages".

He looked at her. "I can hardly wait", he said sarcastically before heading for the door.

Once he was gone, Julia looked at her. "Why do I have the feeling there is something you are not telling us"?

Eileen smiled. "Julia you know me too well. It's not that I'm withholding information but I fear that if Derek knows certain things about the trip that he won't go and I need him to be in London. Once he's there, he won't have a choice".

Tom frowned. "So what are you not telling Derek"?

"You mean, what are WE not telling Derek, because if I tell you, you need to keep this to yourselves".

Tom shrugged. "Ok, fine. So spill the beans".

"I managed to get the McAllister Theater"!

Julia looked at her surprised. "But Derek loves Ian and that Theater, why would he not want to go"?

Eileen took a deep breath. "Actually Ian passed away a couple of years ago and the theater is run by someone else".

"Well who took over the theater"? asked Julia.

"It's run by Kate"!

Julia's and Tom's mouths popped open. Even though no one said a word, they knew that this was definitely not something to tell Derek beforehand and that even when on site, it was going to be an interesting pairing up!


End file.
